Hollow Heart
by Kashim Kururugi
Summary: AU: Orihime is driving home when she loses control and wrecks, but she is rescued by a shadowy figure. Who is this person? What is this place she has awakened in? What is the story behind this figure, can she help him? And how will she ever get home to her brother now?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimers: You, silly rabbit, I don't own this.

Just an idea I got on the ride home from my nephew's during a thunderstorm. It was one of those… 'what if' moments. So... I also wanted to dedicate this to Child of the Ashes for inspiring me to write some Bleach, because of her awesome one-shot 'If Dreams Die.'

XxXxX

Prologue

The ride home was long and Orihime couldn't even hear the hum of the car through the loud rain and rumbling thunder. The windshield wipers were shoving rain to the side, but it seemed to do no good with how much of it feel.

This wasn't good. Her brother was going to be worried; she was already running half an hour behind. Struggling to see, she realized she had gone off the main road and by the time she spotted the downed tree, it was already too late.

The car flipped as she swerved and rolled several times, before stopping in a water-filled ditch. She hung upside down, vision blurring as she smelled the smoke burning somewhere in the vehicle. Gasping, she realized she was trapped, unable to unclip the seatbelt no matter how hard she tried.

She struggled to find something, anything sharp that might cut through, but she was out of luck, there was nothing. Being upside down also had the blood rushing to her head; her vision was going black around the corners. Right as it was fading, she felt the rain fly in from the side as the door was opened and the feel of somebody cutting the belt away and pulling her out of the burning car, she barely saw the dark animalistic eyes, before it all went black.

XxXxX

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own this! I just wanted to borrow myself a handsome Ichigo and lovely Orihime to play around with for a little bit. (of course hollow you too, I can't possibly forget those beautiful eyes)

A/N Wow. Thanks for all the awesome reviews guys. Never thought I'd get that many for this. As for Ichihime/Hichime... it's too hard to explain right now... but... you'll soon see. I can't give it all away just yet.

XxXxX

There was a flash of lighting, a crack of thunder and Orihime had no idea where she was at. She sat up slowly and found herself in a large dark room. There were a few candles lit and across the room, a fire was burning in a fireplace, letting the smell of wood fire drift through the air and almost gives her a sense of calm, but she couldn't allow herself to be lulled into a false sense of security right now.

She pushed the blankets aside and set her bare feet on the floor, noticing how cold the hard wood was. It made her shiver a bit and hesitate in her next move of getting up and rushing to the door with only the sound of her feet padding against the wood.

Just as she was halfway across the room she spotted a shadowy figure in one of the chairs by the fireplace, he seemed to notice her at the same time she noticed him. He stood immediately and took a couple of strides towards her.

"Miss… how are you feeling?"

"I… I am feeling fine… thank you, but… what am I doing here?" She asked, watching as the man looked at the floor for a few moments, before he met her eyes, but these weren't the same eyes she remembered, this wasn't the person.

"I… am afraid you were in a car accident… my son happened to come across you out there. You're lucky." He stated. "My name is Isshin Kurosaki… you're in my home."

"Oh… Inoue Orihime." She introduced, before she stood in silence for a moment or so, building up courage to speak. "May I thank you son for saving me?"

"I'm… afraid he's not in." Isshin said slowly, averting his eyes to the crackling fire. The flames were reflected out of his eyes oddly, almost betraying something that was burning inside of him.

"Well thank you for taking me into your home. Do you think I could call my brother and have him come for me as soon as possible?" She asked, trying to be gracious and not betray that she was very uncomfortable and nervous.

"I am afraid that is also not possible. The power is out due to the storm and we are miles off the beaten path. As soon as it let's up, however I would be glad to drive you to the nearest town and have him meet you somewhere." He stepped forward and held out a hand. "But, please do make yourself comfortable."

"Uhm… thank you, Kurosaki-san." She took a seat and he retook his place across from her.

"What were you doing so far out?"

"I was just on my way home from work… I always take the same road, but I think I may have gotten lost actually. The rain was coming down so hard I couldn't see very well." She put on a smile and rubbed the back of her head nervously.

"I understand. It happens."

She was about to speak when the door opened and a young girl quickly ran into the room, something was fantic about her pace as she grabbed onto the man's leg.

"It's Onii-chan! He's disappeared again." She said and Isshin stood up and set a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Yuzu I will go find him." He told her and wiped the tears with a smile to cheer his daughter up. "Please, stay here and keep Inoue-san Company."

Isshin quickly made his way to the door, giving the two one last glance, before heading out and closing the door behind him.

"You're the girl that Onii-chan saved?" Yuzu asked wiping tears away.

"Yes, that would be me." She said, smiling gently. "You must care a lot about your brother to be so worried about him."

The young girl nodded. "He's sick and he can't be away or he might get hurt."

"Sick?" Orihime asked and the girl nodded again. "I would have liked to have said thanks to him for saving me. Is there anyway I can do that?"

"You would have to ask father." Yuzu replied, much calmer now then before. Orihime nodded in understanding. There was something… odd about this place. About the mood, about the darkness… about the weather. Everything here… was screaming at her.

There was something… dark… and yet sad… the walls were filled with dread. She couldn't quiet place it, but… she knew there was something very wrong here. The lightning flashed across the sky and thunder rumbled, the power went out and the only light now was that of the fireplace, burning brightly across the small area and casting shadows with the furniture, creating ominous shapes along the walls and floor, and dancing along with the moving fire as if they were alive.

Another flash of lightning revealed a shadow, that was not from the furniture or them, when she looked up again she saw the person standing in the now open door. At first, she thought it was Isshin, but that turned out not to be the case. Lightning flashed again and she caught the glint of his eyes, it sent a slight shiver of fear through her.

"Onii-chan?" Yuzu asked, stepping forward and the figure tilted his head to the side and stared at them. It was another moment or so before another boom of thunder made Yuzu run up to her brother and grabed his hand. "Come on… we have to go before you get into trouble."

He looked down at Yuzu, head tilted even more now, before he glanced back at Orihime. Yuzu tugged at his hand and he reluctantly began to follow her.

"Wait… Kurosaki-san?" She asked and he paused. "Thank you… for saving me."

From here… it was creepy and odd. She could only barely see his shadow in the doorway and the outline of his form. He let out an eerie chuckle so quiet she could barely hear it and Yuzu decided to quickly pull on his hand again, dragging him along with her.

"Yuzu… you've found Ichigo." Isshin asked, Orihime could hear him, but only barely. She knew she shouldn't, but she slowly snuck to the door and glanced down the hallway. The large lumbering figure tsked and Isshin held a hand up. "Stop." The figure stepped forward again. "Ichigo! Stop!"

It was useless as he ripped his hand from Yuzu and charged into Isshin, tackling him to the floor, Isshin kicked him off and slammed him into the wall.

"Father!" Yuzu cried in fear, she was frozen to her spot, unable to move.

The two hit the floor again and lightning and thunder made sure their presence was remembered, Ichigo snarled and started to strangle Isshin, but Isshin quickly brought a knee into his stomach as hard as he could and Ichigo spit up blood, while Isshin tossed him off of him and pulled a stun-gun from the inside of his jacket and held it to his neck.

He jerked with the electricity running through him and finally went limp against the hardwood floor. At this Orihime found she could not suppress a gasp, this made Isshin look at her and hold his hands up.

"No… this isn't-" He started, but she bolted. "No! Stop!"

She ran down the long hallway and turned a corner, hearing Isshin running after her and calling for her to stop running, but she had to get out of here. She finally came to the stairs and ran down them towards the door, Isshin was right on her tail and just as she reached the door and attempted to turn it…

She found it was locked! Bolted shut from somewhere she couldn't even find. She swallowed hard and slowly turned to look at Isshin looking at him in fear as lightning flashed and thunder boomed, rain started to beat even heavier against the windows and roof.

"Inoue-san… I am afraid… that I cannot let you leave now." Isshin informed darkly, looking at the floor and her eyes widened in horror.

XxXxX

TBC...

Cliffhanger. Haha. Thanks for reading, leave a review and God Bless.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own this, other wise this would be an animated AU series right no. XD

A/N This took awhile didn't it? ^^' sorry, but I stayed up until four in the am to get this chapter to you guys. lol. I do hope you enjoy it... and your question on IchiHime/HichiHime will be answered in this chapter. I revised the first two chapters, only fixing grammer and the like. This one will probably need to be revised later too. Anywho. Hold onto your seats ladies and gentlemen, it's going to get bumpy!

XxXxX

"Why are you doing this?" She asked, pressing her back to the door firmly as he took a step closer. She had no way out.

"Inoue-san… please understand… nobody can find out about my son."

"I won't tell anybody. I swear." She told him, but he shook his head.

"I am sorry, but I just cannot risk that." He stated firmly and stepped closer, setting a hand on her shoulder firmly and making her flinch. "Please… allow me to explain a few things."

She hesitated a few long moments, surveying the look on the man's face. He seemed… honest, but there was still that dark undertone she couldn't quiet bring herself to trust. It was like a black hole, this place… sucking the life out of the surrounding area and she desperately wanted to get away, yet at the same time, she wanted to unlock the secret of this place.

He didn't speak when she refused to answer him, and instead dragged her along with him to the room she had been in before and locked her inside. She really hadn't tried to fight, there was no way out through the front. She stared at the door in silence and listened to his footsteps receding, before turning to look around this dark and eerie room. Would she really have to spend the rest of her days in this place? She wouldn't be able to stand it. There had to be an escape.

Orihime ran to the large windows behind the bed and looked for an opening, but there was nothing and they were barred from the outside. Who barred the windows from the outside? It was like something straight from one of those horror novels she read.

She couldn't fight it anymore and dropped to the ground, tightly gripping the edge of her long skirt until her knuckles turned white and sobbing quietly. She was lost; she didn't know what to do. And she would stay that way until morning.

XxXxX

The morning light drifted in through the large windows above the bed, she had crawled up onto it and cried until she fell asleep. She blinked at the high ceiling for a few moments, before the sunlight was covered by gray clouds.

It was starting to rain again already? The flooding would only get worse now and she wouldn't be able to drive out of this place if she did somehow get out. She would have to make a run for it, find her way back on foot.

The door opened and Isshin looked in, before he stood there for a few moments, looking for all the worth just as guilty as he was. He gripped the edge of his jacket tightly and stared at the floor for a moment, before he composed himself.

"Inoue-san… breakfast is ready… if you wish to eat." He informed, trying his best to be polite, or as polite as you could be to a hostage.

"I don't feel like eating, Kurosaki-san… maybe if this were under better conditions… I would feel more inclined to partake." She replied, looking away from the man.

"Yes… I understand." Isshin nodded to himself. "Walk with me… I will explain everything."

So she did get up, because if she was being held here, in this place… then she wanted answers and she wanted them now, not later. They walked for awhile until they came to a small room with a large see-through mirror.

"Ichigo is… well… we always knew Ichigo was special when he was born…" Isshin started, watching his son sitting at a tiny pink plastic table with Yuzu.

"How do you know he won't hurt her?" She asked in shock and Isshin held up a hand to silence her, waving it around in a circle.

"Ichigo won't hurt his sister, but as you see… he doesn't have the same quibble with me, hence me keeping him behind this glass. He gets out sometimes… no matter how hard I try to keep him locked away."

"But… why? Why do this? Why keep him locked away?" Orihime wondered, staring at the figure with his back towards her in the other room.

"Because of his temper. I can't have him walking around killing people." He replied, clasping his hands behind his back. "And because of what happened… eight years ago."

"What do you mean?"

"When Ichigo was ten… he and his mother were out by the lake together…" Isshin stated, trying to keep his voice from breaking. "She loved him very much, would do anything for him… Ichigo died that day, he fell in when she had turned her back to opened their picnic basket. She only looked away for a few seconds… As my wife sat there holding our son's dead body in her arms… an old woman came to her… a witch." he spat the last word.

"A… a witch?" Orihime almost couldn't believe it, there was no such thing right? Maybe people practiced witchcraft, but they didn't actually do anything. They couldn't possibly.

"I know what you're thinking… but it's true… the witch… she offered to bring our son back, in exchange for her soul. And… my wife took that deal." Isshin told her.

"Your son is alive…" Orihime said softly, blinking a few times in shock.

"Oh, the witch didn't lie of course, she fulfilled her end of the bargain, but… when Ichigo came home and told me what had happened… I took my hunting rifle… and I killed that witch. My wife… my wife's soul was freed as I wanted, but… in her dying breath… that witch cursed my son. Ichigo isn't Ichigo anymore. She turned him into a beast." He took a deep breath. "The townsfolk spread rumors of course… it's a small town and people talk… they said Ichigo killed his own mother, that he lost his mind and murdered her… it drove Ichigo over the edge… and he strangled a man to death. I faked Ichigo's death after that, so he wouldn't be imprisoned. You must understand."

"This all sounds so…"

"Crazy, like a fantasy… I know. But I have been living this endless nightmare for eight years, Inoue-san. You can believe me or not, but… that is the reason I cannot let you go. This place… this mansion… it's cursed, you see." He turned around to face her and stepped closer, making her back up until her back hit the wall and she had nowhere to go. "What I cannot wrap my mind around… is… why he let you live. I don't know why my son didn't kill you on the spot, like everyone else. There's something about you… something important."

"I don't know what you mean…" She stuttered, worried, but Isshin stopped when he saw he was scaring her.

"Inoue-san… can you break the curse on my son?" He asked, meeting her eyes firmly and she furrowed her brow at his words.

"I don't know how that's even possible… if what you've said is true…" Orihime replied slowly and Isshin nodded, backing away from her.

"You wanted to thank him?" Isshin asked, opening the door to the room slowly. "Thank him then."

Orihime froze when the door opened, but maybe if she did this, she could earn his trust and in return he would release her. So she stepped into the room and Yuzu looked up, before getting up and leaving quickly.

She kneeled a few feet behind him and he still hadn't turned around, sat there staring at the table, _seemingly _unaware of her behind him. She glanced back, Isshin was standing at the door with his arms crossed, prepared for something it looked like.

"K-Kurosaki-san?" She asked softly and he stiffened, before he glanced at her over his shoulder. He looked normal, she thought. His hair was a very dark orange, with white streaks in it, so maybe it was a little odd of an appearance.

He moved faster then she could see and before she knew it was pinned to the ground and he was on top of her, staring at her, eyes meeting hers and she could see that there was something wrong with him, his eyes. One brown set warmly in white and the other gold in a sea of ebony.

His brow furrowed as he stared at her in concentration, tilting his head before he sat up slowly and she wondered why he hadn't just killed her. She inched back a little bit and he blinked several times, staring at her in confusion. Staring as if he had never seen another human being before.

They sat there staring at each other for the longest time, before he stood up and she did as well, not wanting to be lower then him in case he decided he wanted to kill her after all. He slowly walked past her though and stopped in front of his father.

"Ichigo…" His father said in a warning tone. "Where are you going?"

He stood there then, not moving, before Orihime cautiously walked up behind him and he glanced over his shoulder at her again.

"Have you had breakfast, yet?" She asked softly and his gaze softened a little when he knew she probably wasn't going to do anything terrible to him.

"No." Isshin answered for his son. "Go ahead and have breakfast with Inoue-san, Ichigo."

The two had breakfast together in silence, and Orihime found she wasn't as scared as she had been in this place. Nobody here seemed to have any ill intent towards her. He eat slowly, very slowly and she wondered if he was really paying attention. It seemed like he was thinking of something else entirely.

Every now and then he would glance at the window, before she realized it was the rain he was looking at, for some reason he kept watching the rain hit the glass, eyes tracking the droplets tracking down the smooth surface and intertwine with others as it met them, to follow a trail to the bottom.

"You don't talk very much do you?" She asked quietly and he looked up at her, but didn't answer. He reached for his glass of water, but as he reached for it there was a rumble of thunder and he misjudged his aim. The glass tipped over, spilling all over the table and into his lap.

He was up faster then she could move and falling back, right onto his tailbone and staring at the water as it dripped down over the edge of the table, before his gaze went to the window again. Orihime stared at him, before quickly getting a towel to wipe up the water, by the time she looked back, Ichigo was already gone, faster then a flash of lightning. Why had he run away? Was he afraid of the storm?

XxXxX

Orihime didn't see Ichigo again after that all day, Isshin informed her that it was just something Ichigo did and that he would be back. The one thing he wouldn't tell her, however was if he was going to let her go or not. She guessed her brother was worrying about her and it killed her that she was the cause of it, she wanted him to know that she was alright and not worry.

The lights went out again that night and she carried a candle down the long dark hallway to the room she was staying in. She knew she shouldn't be afraid, that she was worrying for no reason, but… well… she couldn't help, but wonder if this creepy old place was haunted at all.

Just as she was thinking those things, a gust of wind from nowhere blew her candle out and she slammed into something hard. Her eyes widened as she caught a shadowy figure in a flash of lightning, but before she could run away, the figure grabbed her wrist and hushed her.

There was a soft swishing sound and a match lit, with a strong smell of sulfur and the figure lit a candle on the wall to their right, before releasing her. The sight of mismatched eyes was still a bit startling, for his eye laid in ebony bordered on madness.

"K-Kurosaki-san… I-" She cut herself off… she didn't have an answer for him really, she was terrified of him and there was no way to hide it, he knew. She could see it in his eyes that he knew and like a match to a wick… it lit a fire of guilt in her chest. It was cruel to fear him, because everyone did. She decided then and there she wouldn't be like everyone else was to him. "Thank you."

He inhaled deeply and slowly let out the air again, ebony eye twitching slightly as the rain picked up, the storm getting worse and the old mansion creaking and groaning in the wind.

"Why are you still here?" He asked and she was a bit startled hearing his voice for the first time. It wasn't what she expected, but one's voice was never what somebody expected.

She bit her lip. What could she say to that? "The roads are all washed out… I'm waiting for the water to go down some before I leave. Your father insisted I stay in the meantime." Best she lie, he hated his father as it was, it seemed. The pain was wet and she wouldn't touch it.

His eyes surveyed her for a moment and he tilted his head to the side, grinning a little on one side as he closed his eyes for a moment. "You're a terrible lair."

"What do you mean?" Orihime asked and he peaked his good eye open.

"My father wants you to stay… so that you don't tell on me." He replied to her question.

"You knew, but… you asked anyway…"

"To see what kind of person you are. Why'd you lie?" He clasped his hands behind his back in a way similar to his father.

"I didn't want to make you angry at your father." She told him honestly now, looking away.

"I see." He reached out and took her arm gently, leading her down the hallway to her room. "So you don't get lost… here."

Just as he turned to walk away, she didn't know why (just that she did) grabbed his arm and stopped him and although she couldn't see it, she could practically feel his grin as he turned to look at her deviously with that eye of his glinting in the light.

"Kurosaki-san…" She started slowly.

"Hmmm?" He hummed and stared at her questioningly, curiously.

"Why did you save me?"

"Mmmm." Ichigo set a hand on his chin and pursed his lips, before shrugging. "I don't know." He teased with an innocent smile. "Why not?"

Orihime blinked at him, surprised by his answer. He was strange, that was for sure and she couldn't exactly place if he was giving her the creeps with that look of his or not.

"Uhmm…" She didn't know what to say now.

"Is that all?" He asked, turning his head to the side and glancing at her from the corner of his eye, purposely hiding his other dark one, but she had the feeling that dark eye was gleaming with mischievousness.

That was exactly the way to describe him, he was mischievous, but for the rest of his traits, she couldn't quite tell yet. She didn't know why, but she wanted to know more about him. He furrowed his brow when she took awhile to answer.

"Yes, that's all… thank you… Kurosaki-san." Orihime told him and he stared hard at her, clasping his hands behind his back once more.

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"Positive?"

"Yes…" She replied, was there something he wanted?

"Alright, then." He started off down the hallway, but stopped. "And… please… don't call me Kurosaki… you can call me Ichigo. I don't want to sound like my father."

She bit her lip to silence herself from more questions and backed into her room, closing the door behind herself. She slowly slid down the wood to the floor and brought her knees up to her chest, lying her chin on them. She had wanted to escape this place more then anything, but the mysteries were unraveling… this place… was swallowing her up… and still she wanted to go farther into the abyss… if only to see what lurked on the other side of it.

Dangerous, yes… she knew, but she was still a curiously little girl that wanted to pretend she was invisible and explore the places that she didn't know. This place was a mystery that needed to be solved for it's phantoms to rest… and those eyes… they needed to be shown something other then fear.

Maybe, just maybe she could do all of this, maybe she could make the rain stop… maybe she could let the light shine in… and maybe… just maybe she could show those eyes something other then fear.

XxXxX

TBC...

Ah... yush... I have made Ichigo and Hichigo merged into one person. I'm trying to merge their pesonalities, but... well... it's... a pain that's for sure. lol. They are the same person anyone, so it's not that far from canon. I thought the witch idea was pretty well played into, because when I started this I knew he had to be under a curse. I'm writting a fairy tale! Break that curse, Hime and save our Ichigo from himself! Until next time, dear readers... thanks for reading... and God bless.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Don't own this show if I did… well… let's not go into that. Anyway… as I was saying… I don't own this show.

A/N I finally got this up! My most sincere apologizes for taking so long. I have been very busy. I will beta this later... so be ready for my goofy mess ups in weird places. I am also very upset about Byakuya... so he must be added to this chapter. Orihime needs to get her butt in there and heal him. Hehehe. ^^

XxXxX

Two days, she had been in this place for two days, it was entirely worrying her that she may never get out of here and see her brother again. She didn't know how she would handle that, the thought made her stomach do a couple flips.

Not to mention it had rained again today, again. She would never ever get out of here if this kept up. She didn't want to be trapped here forever. The same thoughts just kept running through her head and she kept ending up in the same place over and over again.

It wasn't productive, she decided and headed outside into the hallway, she glanced both ways, before attempting to take a left, as she turned a corner she gasped quietly and quickly backed up, pressing her back to the wall. She hadn't intended to run into him again so soon.

She peaked around, thinking perhaps he hadn't noticed, but that half smirk on his face showed her, that he had in fact heard her. Her eyes grew wide as she ducked back behind the corner. The sound of his footsteps coming closer was almost drowned out by how quickly her heart was beating, why did she feel this way? He hadn't done anything terrible to her. _Yet_, a dark part of her mind said.

He finally stopped when he was besides her, leaning his face closer to hers and smirking. "Boo." He mumbled, totally deadpan. She swallowed hard unable to say a word to him, but she had to mentally scold herself and push herself away from the wall.

"I'm not scared of you…"

_She was a little._

"Oh? Then why are you looking at me as if I crawled along the ceiling after you?"

_The look on her face seemed to satisfy him._

They were both silent for a few moments, before she held her hands up and he raised an eyebrow at her, wondering what she was up to now.

"You just startled me a little. I didn't expect you to be here, Ichigo." Orihime told him whispering his name and he nodded slowly, not fully believing her. Something suddenly changed in his eyes as he seemed to come to some sort of conclusion about something or another. He stepped forward abruptly and she closed her eyes tightly, not looking, but nothing happened. "Ichigo… I… I… would like to get to know you better…"

His dark eye twitched a little at her words. "As an acquaintance, rather then a hostage I suppose?" His face was back to normal and he put on another mischievous grin.

"No, not an acquaintance… Ichigo…" She said very slowly and the grin was gone again as he tilted his head to the side. "I want to get to know you as my friend."

"Hmm?" He pressed his lips together in a thin line. "A friend?"

"Yes."

"A friend." Ichigo tested the word, rolled it around his tongue, before nodding. "Well… if that's what you'd like."

"I would like that, yes."

"Yes?"

She paused and stared at him, he was playing games again. She wasn't sure what he wanted when he did it, maybe he just thought it was funny. She couldn't tell, but it seemed he liked making her repeat herself for whatever reason.

"Yes…"

"Okay." He started to walk away very slowly, stopping. "Are you coming? Or are you going to stay in your room all day long?"

She watched him for a moment or so, wondering at the look in his eyes, what was he thinking about right now? Did he think she was afraid? She hoped he couldn't see the fear, but she knew that he did. He was used to it, he should know it when he saw it. So she stepped closer to him and took his hand, his eyes widened in surprised.

It was obvious that it had been the last thing he would have expected from anybody. Regardless of that fact he didn't say a word, but he didn't move either. Perplexed, that was what his face was. He looked down slowly at her hand hold his and tilted his head to one side.

Her touch was soft, gentle. He had never been so confused before and he wasn't sure what to do, at all, but he couldn't move. He was frozen to the spot.

"What's the matter?" She asked softly.

"Why…" He furrowed his brow and cut himself off going silent. Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak again…

"Meow!" A black cat sat in the window ceil, swishing it's tail and staring. Now Ichigo frowned and stared at it.

"What do you want?" He asked, but the cat jumped down and sashayed away slowly, while Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"You have a cat?"

"Yes…" Ichigo said very slowly. After another moment or two, they started off down the hall in silence, side by side and not saying a word. Normally, she would have tried to strike up a conversation, but he was such a quiet person… it seemed like it would be hard.

As soon as they got down the stairs the door opened and Orihime was shocked to see Isshin enter with three other people. Isshin stopped in his tracks the moment he saw the two and the only sound was of the grandfather clock ticking away, before he forced a smile.

"Byakuya-sama… this is Inoue-san. She's the girl that's been staying with us." Isshin said and the man raised an eyebrow, face betraying no emotion.

"I see." The man stated calmly. "Isshin, let us speak in private about matters?"

"Of course." Isshin replied. "Inoue-san… Rukia-sama brought a cell phone with. You may call your brother and tell him that you are alright, please make an excuse of where you are staying, however… in exchange for the call…"

With that, the two men left to discuss business and Orihime was left in a state of shock, of course she was glad, ecstatic she would speak with her brother and hear his voice again, but… who were these people and why exactly were they here? The younger girl walked by Ichigo and slapped his arm lightly.

"Troublemaker, Ichi-nii." The girl scolded, walking up the stairs.

Meanwhile, while he was cursing the girl, the young woman known as Rukia smiled. "Ichigo, it's good to see you again. We brought your sister home from her sleep over as you can see."

"Hello, Rukia. And yes… I see." Ichigo said, deadpan and confused. Why was all this happening today? So much was going on.

"Inoue-san." Rukia greeted and reached into her bag to get her cell phone, equip with a tiny bunny rabbit hanging off the end and all. "Here you go."

Orihime pressed her lips together in a thin line after muttering a thanks and she walked around the corner to call her brother. She was shaking as she dialed the phone number for some reason, what was she going to tell him? She… she could have him call the police to come rescue her… she could.

"Hello?" Her big brother's voice answered.

"Onii-chan!"

"Orihime!" His voice was shocked and relived and bordered on some anger. "I was so worried! I called the police and everything! Where have you been?"

"I was in a small accident, but a very nice man rescued me and brought me to his home and took care of me. I'm perfectly fine though. Except…"

"Except…?" His voice held worry. She could tell him… she could tell him and her big brother would suit up in samurai amour and come rescue her and kick the door opened and challenged Isshin to a dual to the death and- she snapped herself out of her daydream quickly.

"Except it's rained so much all the roads are flooded and I'm afraid I'll be stuck here for a few days. I'm sure the bridge is flooded completely."

"Oh?" His voice seemed to relax a bit now.

"I swear I would have called sooner, but the power has been out as well. I'm so sorry for making you worry about me."

She heard his sigh. "It's alright, Orihime. Just… come home as soon as you can, alright?"

"I will. I promise." She told him. "I have to go. Goodbye, love you."

"I love you too, Orihime. Be careful." He said and with that she hung up the phone, holding it to her chest. She should have told him she was being held here… she have begged him to come get her, but she didn't… she had lied to him. Why… had she done it? Why had she lied to her big brother who she could tell anything in the world? Her big brother who could always make the scary things go away.

She turned the corner, but found that nobody was in the foyer. That was odd, she thought they would still be there. She looked around carefully, before she noticed the door to the den partly opened, she walked over to it and stepped inside when she saw Rukia talking to Ichigo, it was a one-sided conversation however.

"So…. What was the reason Yuzu tells me? She doesn't want to come with to have a sleep over with us because she doesn't want her Onii-chan to get into trouble by himself. Karin doesn't seem to have the same feeling. Did you make her mad again, Ichigo?" Rukia asked and Ichigo's dark eye was twitching.

"I have your phone…" Orihime cut in, uneasily and Rukia smiled at her, taking the phone back.

"Thank you, Inoue-san." Rukia said kindly, before turning back to Ichigo. "And you… smell like you rolled around in old lettuce. Go take a shower."

Finally he snapped. "I-I do not!"

Karin walked into the room to grab a book. "She's right, you do smell terrible."

Ichigo looked from one to the other, fists clenching and unclenching, before he stormed out of the room suddenly. Orihime was surprised once again, what was that all about? Why had he gotten so sensitive about them saying that to him? He didn't seem like the type at all.

Rukia sighed deeply and sat down to wait for Byakuya to finish with his meeting and Karin sat down across from her to read in the light of the fire.

Orihime waited a few minutes, before she turned to leave, but Rukia spoke up.

"Please be careful. He's unpredictable when he gets angry. He left so he wouldn't hurt us." She informed and Orihime nodded in acknowledgement, before going off to find him. Dangerous or not… she wanted to make him feel better and let him know it would be okay. That she would help him.

She had known it would take awhile to find him in this big place, so she tried to figure out where he might go first. She could only imagine the horrified look on her own face when she saw this place had a basement, God forbid. If she couldn't find him… it would be THE last place she would look. Luckily, however… in a miraculous miracle… she found him.

In a moment of silence, she clasped her hands in front of her, over her heart. She felt bad for him, he looked lonely sitting there in the window.

"Ichigo?" She asked softly and he turned to look at her, but didn't speak. "Why did you run?"

"She made me angry… if I had stayed… I might have killed you all." He replied, completely deadpan. As if it were something he said every day, but for all she knew, it very well could have been.

"Ku-" She cut herself off from saying his surname again. "Ichigo… would you like to go for a walk with me?"

He swung his leg off the windowsill and nodded slowly. She bit her lip and watched him as he stood to his full height, before offering him her hand. He simply raised an eyebrow slowly, before he took her hand and instead of her planning to lead him outside, it was the other way around and he dragged her along behind him.

_Hmmm… he must not like to follow behind. _She thought.

XxXxX

Isshin sat behind his desk and watched as Byakuya investigated a bookcase before him, a hand delicately placed on his chin as he did so. He finally raised an eyebrow and turned towards Isshin.

"I assume you understand how hard it was for me to get rid of the police that came looking for Inoue-san?" Byakuya asked and Isshin nodded.

"Yes. I am very grateful Byakuya-sama." Isshin replied simply. "There… are bigger matters at hand I'm afraid… 'he' has been threatening us again. I believe he knows."

"I also believe this, Kurosaki." Byakuya said as he took a book from the shelf and set it down on the desk before Isshin. Sighing deeply Isshin flipped the book open and went over the records.

"I just don't understand it… I was so sure he believed he was dead along with everyone else."

"Regardless…" Byakuya began. "… he is going to come after your family… what are you willing to do to stop it?"

Isshin's eyes darkened. "I will do anything to protect my family. You know this."

"You have been a good friend to me, Kurosaki-san. I will help you in whatever way I am able." He assured and Is gave him a grateful smile.

"I thank you, Byakuya. I would have lost my family without your help."

"Think nothing of it. That is what friends do… is it not?" Byakuya offered a smile. "Now… if you will excuse me, I must get back to Rukia. She gets impatient when it comes to Ichigo."

"Of course."

XxXxX

TBC...

So... as you can see... there is going to be some more drama. And I am sure you are all looking forward to their walk. Well tune in next time. Thanks so much for reading, leave a review and God bless~


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